SATELLITE PHOTO: The Dust Bowl Is Back

Extreme drought in the Great Plains has led to wildfires and now dust storms, reminiscent of the dust bowl of the thirties.

This image from NASA shows dust originating in Kansas and blowing across Texas:

Dust and smoke plumes mingle in this image, but can be easily distinguished from each other. Smoke plumes are pale gray, and arise from hotspots—areas of unusually high surface temperatures detected by MODIS—outlined in red. The dust plumes are tan, similar in color to the ground surface in this region. The parallel dust plumes mimic the southwestern margin of a nearby cloudbank. The clouds may be associated with the same weather system that stirred the dust.